The CBI moved the special court hearing the Jiah Khan death case, seeking to conduct further investigations. The investigating authority told the special court that it wanted to send the dupatta used in the incident, for analysis to the forensic laboratory in Chandigarh. It also sought permission to send the cell phones of Jiah and boyfriend Sooraj Pancholi to the forensic unit of the FBI in the USA. Sooraj has been charged with abetment to suicide.
Sooraj’s lawyer sought dismissal of the CBI plea and initiation of contempt of court proceedings against the investigating officer (IO). The reply by Sooraj Pancholi’s lawyer said that the CBI plea was in direct contempt of a 2017 Bombay high court order which had rejected a similar plea by Jiah’s mother, Rabia. The reply stated that the IO had, in reply to Rabia’s plea, submitted that the cell phone messages between the accused and Jiah were related to his meeting with a jewellery designer in a hotel and were not connected with the incident. It added that the current plea of the CBI before the trial court was contradictory to the CBI’s earlier stand. The reply also said that there was no legal provision to send the material to the FBI. It explained that the FBI had no jurisdiction to investigate any matter within the jurisdiction of the Union of India.